Streaming Video Records Sea Lion Lives

In this undated photo provided by the Alaska SeaLife Center, Steller sea lions gather on a rock on Chiswell Island, 35 miles south of Seward, Alaska. Cameras trained on the rookery are providing streaming video, with sound, of some of the most intimate moments in the life of the endangered animal. (AP Photo/Alaska SeaLife Center, Robert Flood) (Robert Flood - AP)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- You could call it steamy video instead of streaming video: On an island in the Gulf of Alaska, cameras are providing video images and sounds of some of the most intimate moments of endangered Steller sea lions.

During late May through early July, researchers get a peek into the breeding behavior of the dominant bulls. This time of year, the cameras are trained on mothers nursing their pups at the small rookery on Chiswell Island, 35 miles south of Seward.

Research associate John Maniscalco is in charge of the remote video monitoring project for the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.

"We see a lot of things that, of course, are very private," he said. "But, of course, we are dealing with animals here. ... Sea lions don't have any sense of modesty."

Scientists hope that monitoring the sea lions will help them understand why their numbers have declined so dramatically in south-central and western Alaska. The population is down about 70 percent since the mid-1970s.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, there are about 44,800 Steller sea lions in western Alaska. The service said the population between 2000 and 2004 increased about 3 percent a year, an improvement over the declines in the 1980s and 1990s.

Steller sea lions were listed under the Endangered Species Act in April 1990.

Although the cameras have been trained on the sea lions since October 1998, the system was upgraded this fall to provide streaming video and sound on the Web at http://www.alaskasealife.org .

The sea lions weren't putting on much of a show Wednesday. Most appeared to be sleeping, although one sea lion picked up his head and roared twice, before apparently going back to sleep. One pup played briefly with its mother before she returned to a state of deep calm.

Research technician Pamela Parker has been helping operate the cameras since the summer of 2001, documenting everything that happens during 10-hour shifts, from bulls copulating to females giving birth to pups occasionally dying.

"I don't really get tired of it," said Parker, who wrote her master's thesis on the sea lions.

On Wednesday, the rookery was fairly packed, Parker said. She counted about 75 juveniles and adults and about 40 pups. "Today is a really good day," she said.